Sunday, October 29, 2006

McCoy and Romo: The Comeback Kids

This was a good weekend for the Powerhouse and we can give the credit to a pair of QB's with a ton of heart.

Let's start with Colt McCoy, the QB of the defending national champion Texas Longhorns. He's the leader of a team that has threatened to underacheive the last few weeks. He's a kid that was ultimately Texas' third, if not fourth, choice in the QB recruiting class of 2004.

He was considered an afterthought once Coach Brown landed Jevan Snead and the bluechipper graduated early so he could get a head start in Austin. The deck was stacked against him.

But now his legend continues to grow. Trailing by Texas Tech by 21 points in the first quarter after a throwing a pick six, it looked like Colt and his mates were in for a long night. But he battled back, played consistent ball the rest of the way, made some heady plays, and led the 'Horns to the narrowest of victories, but has to go to class tomorrow so he can understand this BCS scenario.

Now Snead is the afterthought, at least until the coaches are intrigued again by his big arm in the spring. Colt is now being compared to Major Applewhite, who is probably only below Vince Young and James Street in the UT Quarterback pantheon. Of course, Peter Gardere is right there, too, having gone undefeated against ou.

As for Romo, one start is hardly the thing of legends. After all, the Cowboys have had marquee performances from career clipboard carriers like the Mad Bomber and Jason Garrett. But the nature of this start is a serious step in the right direction.

He started slow and looked a little like McCoy by throwing an interception in his own end of the field that led to a score. After one quarter, his team trailed 14-0. He then led the charges to 35 unanswered points in a hard-nosed road win that keeps the Cowboys in the playoff hunt with winnable road games against Washington and Arizona.

And Romo flashed his skills that led Bill Parcells to make the QB switch. His quick release, ability to see the whole field, and knack for sidestepping a rush made the game much simpler for the offensive line. Romo was sacked twice, but he also avoided at least three other sacks that would have felled Drew Bledsoe. And did I mention he led the Cowboys to a franchise record 25 points in the fourth quarter?

So Bledsoe is on the quick track to retirement and Romo has the key to the Tuna's bus, though he wants to make it a Corvette. But to do so, he has to find consistency to be a legitimate QB and not just a young guy with potential.

But, yes, Powerhousers, because of the Comeback Kids, we had a great weekend.